As my loyal readers know, I was in Rome during the conclave and
immediately took Pope Leo XIV to my heart.
He hasn't disappointed me.
He hasn't disappointed me.
*The slightly blueish characters are links. Click to open.
He invites all people into the Church.
He is aware of the importance of social media.
In fact, since the new pope took office, the Vatican has been flooding
YouTube with shorts and reels about Leo's public appearances, where
Jesus always plays the decisive role.
He invites all people into the Church.
He is aware of the importance of social media.
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Leo walks through the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica. |
This was a long preface to yesterday's panel discussion in the framework of Freiburg Religious Debates.
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| The projected image in lecture hall 1199 |
Indeed, the old pope has addressed simmering conflicts such as the treatment of homosexuals, celibacy, and the role of women in the Church, but he did not resolve them. The answers to these questions are essential for a Church in the 21st century.
However, they are difficult or perhaps even impossible to answer in a global
Church with different ideas about how to move forward. Thus, a synod of
bishops advising the pope was frequently brought into play. Is it merely
symbolic that Leo, immediately after his election, gathered the cardinals to
listen to them?
Can Leo draw the broad lines for unity in diversity? Raymond Burke, the traditionalist cardinal, warned, without mentioning Leo, that the Church is in danger of losing its soul.
All these considerations are well and good, but Red Baron sees Leo above all as the shepherd who, as an active Augustinian in Latin America, already knew how to gather his sheep. I see him as a pastoral Leo.
He is a missionary in a Church that is rooted in a world where membership numbers are declining in the wealthy countries of the North.
The panel then voiced the impression that the shift in emphasis observed under Francis, toward greater social justice and less preservation of creation (climate change), will intensify under Leo.
Recently, there has been considerable discussion about democratic developments within the Church. Here, Red Baron had to emphasize his personal experience in the debate.
I received my basic Catholic education in a village in the diocese of Paderborn and, in the post-war period in staunchly Catholic Westphalia, experienced the Church as extremely authoritarian.
Thank God, much has changed for the better in the course of my life, but the Church is still schizophrenic.
Where the Church is absolutely dominant, it remains authoritarian; where it lives in the diaspora and is exposed to hostility or even persecution, the Church demands freedom of religion.
Democratization would be good for the reputation of the Church and its believers. The extent of such democratization is not crucial to me. What is essential, however, is that the universal Church speaks always with the same universal democratic voice everywhere.
Can Leo draw the broad lines for unity in diversity? Raymond Burke, the traditionalist cardinal, warned, without mentioning Leo, that the Church is in danger of losing its soul.
All these considerations are well and good, but Red Baron sees Leo above all as the shepherd who, as an active Augustinian in Latin America, already knew how to gather his sheep. I see him as a pastoral Leo.
He is a missionary in a Church that is rooted in a world where membership numbers are declining in the wealthy countries of the North.
The panel then voiced the impression that the shift in emphasis observed under Francis, toward greater social justice and less preservation of creation (climate change), will intensify under Leo.
Recently, there has been considerable discussion about democratic developments within the Church. Here, Red Baron had to emphasize his personal experience in the debate.
I received my basic Catholic education in a village in the diocese of Paderborn and, in the post-war period in staunchly Catholic Westphalia, experienced the Church as extremely authoritarian.
Thank God, much has changed for the better in the course of my life, but the Church is still schizophrenic.
Where the Church is absolutely dominant, it remains authoritarian; where it lives in the diaspora and is exposed to hostility or even persecution, the Church demands freedom of religion.
Democratization would be good for the reputation of the Church and its believers. The extent of such democratization is not crucial to me. What is essential, however, is that the universal Church speaks always with the same universal democratic voice everywhere.
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